Anniversary

June 2. Linda and my fourth anniversary. I had completely forgotten until our friend, Beth, posted on our Facebook and wished us a happy anniversary.

It's truly been the best four years of my life, and there's no one I'd rather be going through all of this with, then my beloved bride. She is definitely a woman of immense faith and strength. Her relationship and faith in our Lord has been evident through every morning of this experience.

After realizing it was our anniversary, I ran downstairs to the lobby flower shop and purchased a bouquet. Who knew that the flower shop lady would be a devoted fan of Let's Talk in English. =) She was so excited to meet me that she even gave us two cups of juice for free as a "song gei wo". ("Gift to me" for those of you who don't know Andrea and don't understand Chinese.)

Our little girl continues to do well! We are so very proud of her. Her condition seems to be pretty stable and hasn't gotten worse in the past few days, so that's a huge praise. Certain things still remain the same, i.e. the bleeding in the brain and the hole in the arteries, but other things, like her breathing, continue to improve - her breathing machine now only helps her for 13 breaths a minute! Go, baby, go!

I asked the doctor today about the hole. Our friend, had left a comment on this blog that one of her friends also had kids with the same problem, and they also didn't respond well to the medicine. However, their holes closed up on their own as the got older. So I asked the doctor if this could indeed happen, and she confirmed that it is a possibility. So we say to that hole, you close up, in Jesus name!

Both Linda and I feel like the doctor was in better spirits today. Not so gloom and doom as she had been in the past. So we take that as a positive sign that Alicia is getting better. Of course, only time will tell. We just walk through day by day, step by step.

Her weight continues to go up, she's now up to 562 grams. Yeah, baby! We pray for more and more. That that weight will pack on.

We also had to do a bit of disciplining today. Alicia's hands weren't tied down today, so she started playing with one of the tubes that were connected to her. So we told her to leave it alone. That she shouldn't play with it. That tube was there to help her. Silly, girl. =)

Doctor also said that Alicia continues to have good vitality. She moves around a lot. So that's great.

Oh, I just thought of something that the Lord spoke to me this morning.

God reminded me this morning that our little Alicia has actually been raised from the dead. You'll remember she had no heartbeat or breath for 7 minutes after birth. But they were able to revive her. And that made me think of the story of Lazarus. Lazarus was one of Jesus' close friends. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he said, " “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

We believe that this is also true for Alicia. Her time in the ICU will not end in death. And all of this has happened for God's glory, so that God's son may be glorified through it. So we say, "Yes, Daddy God. Yes, Heavenly Father! Glorify yourself through us and in us. May this story make your glory shine into the far reaches of the world. May hearts that were once hardened to you, be melted and opened by the story of the miracle of Alicia's life."

Amen!